Macbeth Act 2

1.) “A heavy summons lies like lead upon me,And yet I would not sleep.” Speaker: BanquoInterlocutor: FleanceContext/Irony etc.: Banquo is telling his son how he cannot sleep. When he sleeps he dreams of the Witches and is tempted by their prophecies. Husbandry in heaven-candles are all out. Metaphor-candle=star.
2.) “So I lose noneIn seeking to augment it, but still keep…” Speaker: BanquoInterlocutor: Fleance and Macbeth
3.) “Is this a dagger which I see before me,The handle toward my hand? … A bell rings.I go, and it is done. The bell invites me.Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knellThat summons thee to heaven or to hell.” Speaker: MacbethInterlocutor: himselfContext/Irony etc.: Macbeth imagines he sees a bloody dagger that is leading him to Duncan’s room so he can kill him. Macbeth moves with the stealth of a murderer. When the bell rings it signals that his wife is finished making necessary preparations and that he can go ahead and kill Duncan.
“Had he not resembledMy father as he slept, I had done ‘t.” Speaker: Lady MacbethInterlocutor: herselfContext/Irony etc.: While waiting for Macbeth to return, Lady Macbeth confesses that if Duncan, while sleeping, had not looked like her father, she would have killed him herself.
5.) “But wherefore could not I pronounce ‘Amen’?I had most need of blessing, and ‘Amen’Stuck in my throat.” Speaker: MacbethInterlocutor: Lady MacbethContext/Irony etc.: After killing Duncan, Macbeth is horrified at what he had done. He is telling Lady Macbeth that after he killed Duncan, he heard the two servant (who were framed for the murder) muttering in their sleep about “God bless us” and “amen” Macbeth wished to say those things but he couldn’t anymore.
6.) “Methought I heard a voice cry ‘Sleep no more!Macbeth does murder sleep’–the innocent sleep,Sleep that knits up the raveled sleave of care,The death of each day’s life, sore labor’s bath,Balm of hurt minds, great nature’s second course,Chief nourisher in life’s feast.” Speaker: MacbethInterlocutor: Lady MacbethContext/Irony etc.: Macbeth is regretting the murder and is feeling guilty. He thinks he heard a voice that is telling everyone to sleep no more because Macbeth murders sleep because Macbeth murdered Duncan in his sleep. Personification-murdering an animate object, sleep. Metaphor- sleep is the death of each day’s life, sore labor’s bath, balm of hurt minds, great nature’s course, chief nourisher in life’s feast.
7.) “What hands are here! Ha, they pluck out mine eyes.With all great Neptune’s ocean wash this bloodClean from my hand? No, this my hand will ratherThe multitudinous seas incarnadine,Making the green one red.” Speaker: MacbethInterlocutor: himselfContext/Irony etc.: Macbeth looks at his bloody hands and uses a hyperbole saying that it would take all of the ocean to wash the blood off of his hands and that even then the blood on his hands would make the entire ocean red. Rhetorical. nhy
8.) “I hadthought to have let in some of all professions that gothe primrose way to th’ everlasting bonfire (Knock.)Anon, anon!” Speaker: PorterInterlocutor: himselfContext/Irony etc.: the drunken porter pretends to be the devil-porter at the gates of hell. This quote says that he has let in people on the path to hell. The knock is Macduff and Lennox and he lets them in.
9.) “It pro-vokes the desire, but it takes away the performance.” Speaker: PorterInterlocutor: Macduff and LennoxContext/Irony etc.: the porter had been telling Macduff and Lennox about the 3 things that a drink provokes.. He is saying that a drink provokes the desire to be something but leaves the person incapable of doing it (the performance).
10.) “The night has been unruly… Some say the earthwas feverous and did shake.” Speaker: LennoxInterlocutor: Macduff and MacbethContext/Irony etc.: Lennox comments on the rough night and the damage caused. He also discussed sounds , screams, and the sound of an owl which are signs of death. This is dramatic irony because he talks of signs of death when the King was murdered but he does not know it yet. This is also a foreshadow.
11.) “Shake off this downy sleep, death’s counterfeit,And look on death itself.” Speaker: MacduffInterlocutor: Macbeth, LennoxContext/Irony etc.: Macduff has just found Duncan dead, murdered in his sleep and is yelling for everyone to wake up and to shake off sleep which is fake death. Metaphor
12.) “There’s nothing serious in mortality.All is but toys. Renown and grace is dead.The wine of life is drawn and the mere leesIs left this vault to brag of.” Speaker: MacbethInterlocutor: Lennox and RossContext/Irony etc.: Macbeth is commenting on the death of the King. He is saying that now that a great King is dead life is not worth living. Metahpor- the wine of life is gone and nothing is left but the dregs. Ironic-? how
13.) “And his gashed stabs looked like a breach in nature” Speaker: MacbethInterlocutor: Macduff, Lennox, Donalbain, Malcolm, Lady MacbethContext/Irony etc.: Macbeth, having killed the framed servants, is explaining to a suspicious Macduff why he killed them. He describe the body of Duncan using a simile.
14.) “Look to the lady.” Speaker: MacduffInterlocutor: Macbeth, Lennox, Donalbain, Malcolm, Lady MacbethContext/Irony etc.: Lady Macbeth draws attention to herself by fainting or pretending to faint after Macduff becomes suspicious of Macbeth’s motives for killing the servants who were framed for Duncan’s murder.
15.) “To show an unfelt sorrow is an officeWhich the false man does easy. I’ll to England.” Speaker: MalcolmInterlocutor: DonalbainContext/Irony etc.: Fearing for their lives after the murder of their father, Donalbain and Malcolm agree to split up and flee Scotland. The brothers fear that they will be accused of murder because it’s easy to fake sorrow. This ends ups being bad for them because they look guilty fleeing the country.
16.) “There’s daggers in men’s smiles.” Speaker: DonalbainInterlocutor: MalcolmContext/Irony etc.: No one can be trusted, someone close to the king betrayed him and smiles can be deceitful. He employs the use of a metaphor.
17.) “And Duncan’s horses ( a thing most strange and II iv 17-24 73-75certain),Beauteous and swift, the minions of their race,Turned wild in nature, broke their stalls, flung out,Contending ‘gainst obedience, as they wouldMake war with mankind. ‘Tis said they eat each other'” Speaker: RossInterlocutor: Old manContext/Irony etc.: Ross is telling the Old Man of the strange occurrence that happened with Duncan’s horses. On the night of Duncan’s murder, his horses went wild and refused to behave and ate one another. Symbolism for the ominous signs of murder and treason.
18.) “Will you to Scone?” “No, cousin, I’ll to Fife.” Speaker: Ross, MacduffInterlocutor: Macduff , RossContext/Irony etc. Ross asks Macduff if he will go see the coronation of Macbeth at Scone. Macduff isn’t, instead he is going back to his own castle. This shows that perhaps Macduff is suspicious of Macbeth and doesn’t think its worth it to go see his coronation. This perhaps means that Macduff is suspicious of Macbeth, doesn’t trust him or disapproves of him becoming King a foreshadow of an uneasy Kingship for Macbeth.
August 15, 2019